One on one conversations really matter

They are our most effective form of communication with our community. Our Saturday morning conversations interrupt people in their daily lives and say implicitly, “Look up, climate change matters, you need to think about this issue”. They also allow us to recruit volunteers and grow our email list.

Our volunteers find that street conversations are a powerful and effective way to keep climate as a top issue for voters, and are a great way to connect with people in the electorate.

It’s easier with a conversation starter

Jenny Henty finds that volunteering on street stalls is easier “when you have a conversation starter such as a printed petition or a questionnaire”.

” Most people are happy to sign a petition which is asking for a common-sense action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or for the protection of something we all love. Questionnaires prompt people to think about climate issues that may not be front-of-mind in their busy lives.”

Jenny Henty

 

Stronger climate action – events and petition

As well as publicising our events, our current Saturday morning conversations focus on a petition telling the Kooyong candidates what their community cares about.

Our petition states:

To all Federal Election candidates standing in the Kooyong electorate:

We request that if elected you will advocate for stronger climate action by the government, including:

  • Setting an ambitious 2035 emissions target under the Paris Agreement;
  • Increased support for the rapid shift to renewable energy, ruling out government support for nuclear power;
  • No new coal and gas mining approvals;
  • An end to all taxpayer subsidies to the fossil fuel industry ($14.5 billion in 2023-24).

 

This petition serves both to educate the signers and as a message to our candidates. With your help we can gain a significant number of signatures which we will then share with the Kooyong candidates. We are backing up this petition with an informative flyer on the benefits of renewable energy vs nuclear.  We only have a short run up to the Federal election so please join us on Saturday mornings to make this petition sing! As you can see from our roster, we really need your help!

Taking it to the streets, talking to our community about climate

Taking it to the streets, talking to our community about climate

Five good reasons for street conversations

  1. In this age of massive disinformation, talking to a real human matters, especially if they are handing you a flyer with high quality information about renewables, clean energy jobs and how going electric lowers energy bills.
  2. Street conversations raise the visibility of our campaigns – seeing our street signs and T shirts helps people connect the dots on climate change, and how their vote is powerful for a more sustainable future.
  3. Signing a petition is a way of connecting people to our email lists which gives them the opportunity to get involved with local climate action, and come to educational events with experts. Petitions are a great accountability mechanism, particularly when followed up with further action – for instance our recent petition on the Kew Rec Centre encouraged Council to do a rethink about going electric instead of gas boilers, which will create significant savings for ratepayers.
  4. A street conversation may be the first contact that someone has with the climate movement in Kooyong, and some of these people become very actively engaged, and even moved onto positions of public influence and responsibility.
  5. A short conversation with a climate volunteer helps people realise that we are just like them, not “raving inner-city greenies” or “communists”, concerned with normal stuff like the future we are leaving our kids, protecting green spaces and making our homes more comfortable and going electric.

Menzies for Climate volunteers talking at Box Hill talking sustainability, renewables and nuclear

Menzies for Climate volunteers talking at Box Hill talking sustainability, renewables and nuclear

Why volunteer for street conversations?

Lynn Frankes really appreciates being out in the community. “I always find doing street stalls an eye opening experience. Gone are the days when climate change deniers would cast disparaging remarks – well almost. You do get the occasional nutter. Now, at least in Kew, where I have mostly volunteered, people might ignore you or are mostly happy to engage or thank you for taking a stand.”

“You really get a flavour of how the community in general is feeling about climate change.” 

Lynn Frankes

Sarah Hegarty is convinced that street action is powerful. “It’s powerful to show people a regular human being from their own community who cares enough about climate action to spend their Saturday morning on it!”

“Street outreach is a way to communicate – both directly and indirectly – how desperately important climate issues are. It’s an incredible way to encourage and normalise climate action. I would encourage any reader to give it a go.”

Sarah Hegarty

Lighter Footprints is joinig with KCCA, Menzies for Climate and Chisholm Climate Action in talking to voters about the importance of climate action

Lighter Footprints is joinig with KCCA, Menzies for Climate and Chisholm Climate Action in talking to voters about the importance of climate action

 

What if this your first time?

Sarah Hegarty says that when she was first invited to a street conversations session ” I was nervous! I worried about bothering people, meeting someone confrontational, or not having the right facts and figures memorised.”

“I’m very glad I overcame those worries and gave it a go. Having now done many street conversations over the last few years, I’ve found it rewarding, confidence-building, and deeply enjoyable – as well as a way to sleep better at night, knowing I’m doing what I can.”

Standing in the street trying to engage people in conversation about climate can seem too daunting to contemplate.  However most people are polite or at worst just ignore you. Talking to people in the street about climate and listening to their ideas and perceptions is a very effective way to get an understanding of how others view climate as an issue. 

 

Democracy in Action

Sarah B says “street conversations are a great way to directly engage the community to discuss the climate crisis and what we can do to address it and hold our elected representatives to account. It is democracy in action!”  

One of the most effective ways to understand the mood of an electorate is to listen to people and engage with them on what matters to them.

“Becoming part of a local streetscape for a few hours makes me feel a part of my community: you get a grassroots sense of different areas around the electorate, and the people who live there. Everyone is far kinder than you think they’ll be, and you end up having the loveliest chats with folk you’d never otherwise meet as well as with your like-minded fellow volunteers.”

Sarah Hegarty

Jenny Henty says “I find strength in remembering that I am not representing myself but rather a large section of the population who are working to keep the climate liveable. Letterboxing leaflets familiarises me with our local places but street stalls connect me to the people who live beyond the letterbox – the voters.”

“I really enjoy the chats with fellow volunteers and the coffee or lunch afterwards. Even if we don’t know each other, we are a team, we share values, we get it.”

Lynn Frankes

 

Join us in volunteering on Saturday mornings

Lynn Frankes says “I think doing street stalls, taking a moment with people in their daily lives when they are doing their Saturday morning shopping or going to the bank is one of the most valuable things we can do. We are saying, “Look up, take notice, this is important”, important enough that I will spend my Saturday morning, standing here, hoping to speak to you.”

We’d love you pop your name on our street conversations roster here, or ring Sarah Hegarty 0435 321 981 or our Deputy Convenor, Lynn Frankes for more info on 0425 843 685. We will always pair you with another volunteer, and often we get together with a cup of coffee afterwards!

oin us in talking to voters about climate in 2025

Join us in talking to voters about climate in 2025